The heat is on, but come the weekend, at least your clothes won’t have to be. This Saturday, Brooklynites can join hundreds of cyclists around New York City as they strip down for the 2011 World Naked Bike Ride, a global effort to promote alternative transportation and protest the harmful effects of auto and oil dependencies. But what’s nudity got to do with it, you ask? Besides the simple thrill of baring all in public, the event’s website draws the correlation like so: oil dependency=indecent. Showing your skin shouldn’t be. And it’s free, naturally.
The ride is open to the public and has a “wear what you wish” policy, in case you’re less than enthused about going bare back. Riders will be meeting at the Time’s Up headquarters under the Williamsburg Bridge (99 South 6th St., off Bedford Avenue) for a bike and body decorating party at 3pm, where professional painters will transform your winter-weary bod into a work of art (or you can opt for the au naturale look). UPDATE 6/10: The Bike Ride organizers have updated the start location where the ride begins after Time’s Up on their Facebook page.
The ride itself will depart from East River Park in Manhattan around 6pm, ending at 7pm with an after-party at Time’s Up in Williamsburg to stretch the naked fun well into the night. Riders and volunteers also get free admittance to the after-party (sliding scale donation or Time’s Up membership fee otherwise), not to mention a great story to share with the grand kids someday in the less auto-centric future.
Because of the city’s laws against public nudity, and previous enforcement issues with loosely organized bike rides, the full route is being kept underwraps until the day of the ride.
Even if the free-rider look is not your bit, there are tons of other ways to be involved with the event including media wrangling, scouting the route for po-po, and taking photos and video. Event organizer and participant Joe says that while it’s difficult to measure the ride’s impact, the real focus is to put on a fun, free, and different event for the city.
“This in itself is a radical transformation from the mundanities of the everyday,” Joe tells Brokelyn.
To read the most up-to-date event news, follow the group on Twitter (@wnbrnyc, hashtags #wnbrnyc & #june11) or visit the website for more details.
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